Pilgrimages

Annually, we look at taking a pilgrimage to a shrine where we can take a step back from the regular hustle and bustle of busy campus life and spend some time in community with each other while seeking a deeper relationship with our Lord. For the 2016-2017 school year, we had a unique opportunity. The official Our Lady of Fatima statue is making a pilgrimage of its own, traveling through 100 diocese in the year leading up to the centennial of the apparition of Mary to the three shepherd children at Fatima. One of the early stops was in the New Ulm Diocese, at the Cathedral of the Holy Trinity, at New Ulm.

Students involved in Catholic Campus Ministries made a day trip to New Ulm. We started with a little shopping and a stop at the Glockenspiel.

After the Glockenspiel, we went to the Way of the Cross, one of two shrines located within the New Ulm Diocese. The shrine, which features fourteen Stations of the Cross, a grotto, a Chapel, decorative fencing and a paved walkway, is a peaceful place to pray.

Our next stop was a trip through the Holy Doors at the Cathedral. A special part of the Year of Mercy was the extension of the Holy Doors to at least one Church in every Diocese throughout the world. A plenary indulgence could be earned by those who passed through the doors, received the Sacrament of Reconciliation, received the Eucharist and prayed for the intention of the Holy Father.

Our day concluded with a talk about Our Lady of Fatima, a Rosary Procession, Reconciliation, Mass and prayer before the statue of Our Lady of Fatima. We were blessed to be able to spend this time building our relationships with Jesus Christ as we grew in communion with each other.